Awhile ago, a friend, teacher and fellow positive body image advocate told me how her middle school students would wear their jumpers (sweaters) on hot days because they were paranoid about their sweat marks being seen.

Some girls also didn’t put their all into PE (despite being sporty) and this was because they didn’t want to be seen sweating or jiggling.

It’s not going to work for parents and teachers to simply say ‘stop being silly’, or ‘get over it’. These are real concerns for our young women. We need to ask ourselves (and them) WHY they are so concerned about essentially being seen moving! Not to ridicule them, but to get them thinking more deeply about their values, and empowering them to free themselves of such constraints and be all they can be without holding themselves back.

Part of this issue is just simply an ‘adolescent phase’ and girls need time to adjust to their changing bodies, but it also highlights the importance of having real women being highly visible role models, to off-set the so-called ‘perfect’, in control, airbrushed images being portrayed in the media.

This video a friend recently shared is fantastic – these ladies are going for it, loving it, and not giving two hoots who is watching or what the watchers may be thinking. This is what we need to be aiming for – go ahead, be that woman and be proud to be her, so that other girls and women can see its ok, its normal and its fun!

You will do wonders for our young women’s self image and confidence, and this will impact all areas of their life.

Go and and be human – get jiggling and sweat while you’re at it, thanks!